This invention relates to a floating vessel, specifically to an improved lifting barge adapted for servicing and maintaining submerged air diffusers in wastewater treatment facilities.
In the past, the only equipment a wastewater treatment facility used, to maintain and service submerged diffusers, was a flat boat. Three (3) men were needed to accomplish this task. Two (2) men would manually lift the air header and lay it on the boat while the third man would sit across from them steadying the boat, trying to keep it from tipping, taking on wastewater and sinking. This was an extremely unsafe method of working on the submerged diffusers and most workers declined to do this work.
The next method that came along was a pontoon boat that resembled a party barge. It had round flat-ended pontoons with a crane-hoist mounted to the bow. When in operation, the boat tilts forward from the weight of the air header, causing an unstable and uneven work platform for the workers. Also, due to the method of operation and its round pontoons with flat ends, which do not move through the water easily, it needs a large outboard motor to maneuver in the basin.
The present invention contemplates elimination of drawbacks associated with the conventional service boats and provision of a lifting barge, from which the air diffusers can be safely and conveniently serviced.